Friday, June 8, 2007

If you want to make your mother-in-law happy, give her a Schonbek crystal chandelier.

Last weekend I dismantled my La Scala chandelier, wiping clean every individual crystal and wrapping it with fanatical care. It was a pleasure to feel the heft of the big faceted pendeloques in my gloved hand, and to see each crystal up close. It’s hard to describe the magical quality of fine crystal. Oversized crystal drops, for example, hold the light almost like a shimmering liquid. I’m always writing copy about how Schonbek uses only the finest crystal. It’s really true.

Last night my husband re-hung the crystal on the frame, which now resides in my mother-in-law’s new quarters in her retirement home.

Every time I unwrapped a crystal, my mother-in-law would exclaim, “Oh how beautiful!” This was very satisfying.

It’s quite an experience to view your Schonbek crystal chandelier after it’s moved to a new location. My mother-in-law has a spacious sitting room with ten-foot high ceilings and a row of tall window. It’s actually easier to see and appreciate the La Scala in her light and airy space than it was in my somewhat claustrophobic home office. My ceilings are only 9 feet high. The walls of my office are dark blue.

The director of the retirement home and various other staff members have already been by to see the crystal chandelier. It’s becoming a local legend.

The retirement home is a ten-minute walk from my office. I’ve taken to walking over there at lunchtime almost every day, just to make sure my mother-in-law is in good spirits. Now I can visit my ex-chandelier as well.

Decorating a living space for someone you love is quite a deep thing. You can express your affection and create an environment conducive to pleasant thoughts. Interior designers must bring people a lot of happiness.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007
I’m blogging  at the Chandelirious exhibit that just opened at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. I’m surrounded by contemporary crystal chandeliers, one more astonishing than the next.

The photographer Glenn Moody and his crew are setting up. The museum just closed, and we have all the crystal chandeliers to ourselves.

The first shot will be of Da Vinci™, which is hanging in a stall where a hundred years ago a horse might have stood. The Chandelirious exhibit is in an old round barn. The Shelburne Museum is a world famous collection of antique structures full of antique objects, mostly Americana, but with some great works by European masters besides. Special exhibits here can get pretty far out. What better location for an art show of iconoclastic chandeliers than in an old barn?

Against the rough whitewashed walls, Da Vinci™ stands out like a dazzling entity from outer space. There are bursts of spectral color at random points all over the crystal sphere.

The contrast between the unadorned environment and the sophistication and brilliance of the crystal reminds me of how much fun you can have doing the unexpected with a crystal chandelier...

Now I’m taking a walk around the exhibit to see some of the other outrageous pieces. There’s a chandelier like an upside bouquet of black cords ending in bare light bulbs. A neon chandelier. A chandelier made of  three thousand ping pong balls strung on surgical tubing and fishing line – with a classic Empire profile! A take-out chandelier composed of plastic knives and spoons. As I look at all these futuristic designs, I’m breathing in the fragrance of old timber.

There’s a DVD playing beside Da Vinci™ demonstrating how it comes apart and fits right into a dishwasher. This startling feature makes Da Vinci™ a perfect fit for contemporary lifestyles – and for Chandelirious…

That photo seems to be wrapped up. (I keep leaving this blog to look at images of the shots, then coming back.)  Next Glenn and his crew go down the ladder into the silo to shoot the new Da Vinci™ LED,  a massive and perfectly round crystal chandelier that’s also a light show…

The shot in the silo is dramatic – the three-foot crystal sphere constantly changing colors, against curved planks blackened with age…

Two hours later we’re shooting the traditional Schonbek crystal chandelier that opens the show. The curators felt it would be interested to start you with a classic crystal chandelier before you move on to the deconstructed reconceptualized updates of the classic form. Schonbek submitted Renaissance, a baroque chandelier with rock crystal, colored crystal and clear crystal ornaments – my new favorite…

Finally we’re photographing the Tobias Wong chandelier. This little chandelier started out in life as a Schonbek, and then Tobias Wong coated it with industrial white rubber, leaving just one crystal uncoated as a witty comment on the proceedings. So we really have to call it a Tobias Wong, but it’s amusing to know that’s there’s a Schonbek under all that rubber.

It’s 10:30 at night, and I’m ready to go home! When we get the final images, I’ll add links to show them.